WantToKnow.info: Civil Liberties NewsLandmark US case to expose rampant racial bias behind the death penaltyThe Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)2019-08-25https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/24/landmark-us-case-to-expose-rampant-racial-bias-behind-the-death-penalty
The Trump Administration Is Using the Full Power of the U.S. Surveillance State Against WhistleblowersThe Intercept2019-08-04https://theintercept.com/2019/08/04/whistleblowers-surveillance-fbi-trump/
FBI and police monitoring Oregon anti-pipeline activistsThe Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)2019-08-08https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/08/fbi-oregon-anti-pipeline-jordan-cove-activists
FBI director says white supremacy is a 'persistent, pervasive threat' to the USCNN News2019-04-04https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/politics/fbi-director-wray-white-supremacy/index.html
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that white supremacy presents a "persistent" and "pervasive" threat to the United States</strong>. Wray also spoke out against hate crimes and was asked by Democrats what the FBI was doing to crack down on hate crimes, which they say have ticked up during Trump's presidency. "We are determined not to tolerate hate-filled violence in our communities, so we're going to aggressively investigate those cases," Wray said, adding that there has been an increase in "the reporting of hate crimes," but that this doesn't automatically mean more hate crimes were happening. FBI efforts to encourage the public to report hate crimes could be yielding benefits, he said. These comments aren't exactly in line with what Trump has said about the topic of white nationalism. Trump, who appointed Wray in 2017, has downplayed the danger of white nationalism and even praised some of the Nazi sympathizers who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. After the New Zealand mosque massacre last month, where a right-wing extremist killed 50 Muslim worshippers, Trump said he <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/15/politics/white-house-new-zealand-mosque-attacks/index.html" target="_blank">didn't consider</a> white nationalism to be a rising global threat. "I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess," Trump said. <strong>An <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/13/politics/fbi-hate-crimes-2017/index.html" target="_blank">FBI assessment</a> released last year found that there was a 17% spike in reports of hate crime incidents in 2017, compared to 2016</strong>. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/civillibertiesnewsarticles" target="_blank">news articles on civil liberties</a> from reliable major media sources. </p>'Red Summer' of 1919: Hundreds of Black Americans Were Killed by White MobsNBC News2019-07-23https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/Red-Summer-Black-Deaths-1919-White-on-Black-VIolence-America-513104221.html
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0">America in the summer of 1919 ran red with blood from racial violence, and yet today, 100 years later, not many people know it even happened. Hundreds of African American men, women and children were burned alive, shot, hanged or beaten to death by white mobs. Thousands saw their homes and businesses burned to the ground and were driven out, many never to return. It was branded "Red Summer" because of the bloodshed and amounted to some of the worst white-on-black violence in U.S. history." <strong>There are no national observances marking Red Summer. History textbooks ignore it, and most museums don't acknowledge it. The reason: Red Summer contradicts the post-World War I-era notion that America was making the world safe for democracy, historians say. "Ethnic cleansing was the goal of the white rioters</strong>," said William Tuttle, a retired professor of American studies at the University of Kansas. "They wanted to kill as many black people as possible and to terrorize the rest until they were willing to leave and live someplace else." The violence didn't start or end in 1919. Some count the era of Red Summer as beginning with the deaths of more than two dozen African Americans in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1917 and extending through the Rosewood Massacre of 1923, when a black town in Florida was destroyed. All told, at least 1,122 Americans were killed in racial violence over those six years.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/civillibertiesnewsarticles" target="_blank">news articles on civil liberties</a> from reliable major media sources.</p>Across Africa, new battlefields for free speech take shape on social mediaChristian Science Monitor2018-07-25https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2018/0725/Across-Africa-new-battlefields-for-free-speech-take-shape-on-social-media
Undocumented, vulnerable, scared: the women who pick your food for $3 an hourThe Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)2019-07-10https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/10/undocumented-women-farm-workers-texas-mexican
Brain Researcher José Delgado Asks - ‘What Kind of Humans Would We Like to Construct?’New York Times1970-11-15https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/15/archives/brain-researcher-jose-delgado-asks-what-kind-of-humans-would-we.html
Pressing for vaccine law changes in Arizonaazcentral.com/USA Today (website of Arizona's largest newspaper)2019-03-22https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2019/03/22/vaccine-law-changes-needed-arizona-rep-nancy-barto/3227240002/
Judges differ with Trump administration on conditions for immigrant minorsSan Francisco Chronicle/ (San Francisco's leading newspaper)2019-06-18https://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Judges-differ-with-Trump-administration-on-14016372.php
Deaths of indigenous women 'a Canadian genocide', leaked report saysBBC News2019-06-01https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48481958
Activists arrested in Venezuelan embassy in Washington after a monthlong occupationUSA Today2019-05-16https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/16/codepink-activists-arrested-venezuelan-embassy-law-enforcement/3694187002/
Facebook bans Alex Jones and other controversial figures for hate speechLos Angeles Times2019-05-02https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-facebook-ban-alex-jones-milo-yiannopoulos-20190502-story.html
In Case Brought by School Speech Pathologist, Texas Federal Court Becomes the Third to Strike Down Pro-Israel Oath as UnconstitutionalThe Intercept2019-04-26https://theintercept.com/2019/04/26/in-case-brought-by-school-speech-pathologist-texas-federal-court-becomes-the-third-to-strike-down-pro-israel-oath-as-unconstitutional/
Why the U.N. chief’s silence on human rights is deeply troublingWashington Post2019-04-24https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/24/why-un-chiefs-silence-human-rights-is-deeply-troubling/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.49bc8c16c2e5
Saudi Arabia executes 37 people, crucifying one, for terror-related crimesCNN News2019-04-24https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/middleeast/saudi-executions-terror-intl/index.html
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0">Saudi Arabia has executed 37 men convicted of terror-related crimes, the kingdom's official news agency said Tuesday. One of the convicts was crucified. In Saudi Arabia, crucifixion means the body of someone executed is strung up and put on display as a deterrent to others. <strong>The majority of those executed were Shia men, according to Amnesty International, which dismissed the legal proceedings that led to the convictions as "sham trials that violated international fair trial standards which relied on confessions extracted through torture</strong>." The kingdom has repeatedly denied allegations of torture. Those executed include 11 men convicted of spying for Iran, and at least 14 others who were convicted of violent offenses related to participation in anti-government demonstration. One of the men listed in Tuesday's government statement was Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, who, according to Amnesty, was arrested at the age of 16 and convicted of offenses related to his involvement in anti-government protests. Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman first emerged onto the kingdom's political scene in 2015, he has overseen an intensified crackdown on dissent. He began his political career as defense minister and was elevated to Crown Prince in 2017. In recent years, the Crown Prince has ordered the rounding up of scores of activists, high-profile clerics, analysts, businessmen and princes, as well as women's rights defenders who were allegedly tortured.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> How is it that this monarchy which <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/a--harsh-saudi-crackdown-famous-feminists-branded-as-traitors" target="_blank">brands famous feminists</a> as "traitors", beheads its enemies and strings up their bodies in public display is one of the closest allies of the US? According to this <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/critics-slam-obama-administration-hiding-massive-saudi-arms/story?id=12192558" target="_blank">ABC news article</a> a 2010 massive arms sale to the kingdom was "the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the U.S." For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/governmentcorruptionnewsarticles" target="_blank">government corruption news articles</a> from reliable major media sources. </p>A.I. Experts Question Amazon’s Facial-Recognition TechnologyNew York Times2019-04-03https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/technology/amazon-facial-recognition-technology.html
U.S. hackers helped UAE spy on Al Jazeera chairman, BBC hostReuters2019-04-01https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-raven-media-specialreport/special-report-u-s-hackers-helped-uae-spy-on-al-jazeera-chairman-bbc-host-idUSKCN1RD2PY
Leaked reports reveal severe abuse of Saudi political prisonersThe Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)2019-03-31https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/31/leaked-reports-reveal-abuse-saudi-arabia-political-prisoners
U.S.’s Biggest Christian Charity Reportedly Channeled $56.1 Million to Purported Hate GroupsNewsweek2019-03-20https://www.newsweek.com/biggest-christian-charity-funding-hate-groups-1370055
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0">The nation's eighth-largest nonprofit donated $56.1 million to a series of organizations identified as hate groups from 2015 to 2017, according to a report from <a href="https://readsludge.com/2019/03/19/americas-biggest-christian-charity-funnels-tens-of-millions-to-hate-groups/" target="_blank">Sludge</a>. National Christian Foundation, which identifies itself as the largest Christian grant maker and one of the largest donor-advised funds in the nation, has served as a vehicle for individuals trying to anonymously send money. <strong>Donor-advised funds allow individuals sending the tax deductible contributions to remain anonymous from the IRS and instruct where they want the payments to be sent. For those donating via NCF, this meant sending money to 23 organizations that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled hate groups</strong>. Most of the hate organizations that received money from the NCF opposed LGBT rights. The report also found that the NCF donated to anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant organizations. Organizations receiving the most funds from NCF included the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has advocated for sterilizing transgender individuals, and the Family Research Council, which has advocated conversion therapy. Members of the Family Research Council including Tony Perkins, the organization's president, have sought to link pedophilia and homosexuality. The NCF's website says it has "accepted over $12 billion in contributions and made over $10 billion in giver-recommended grants to more than 55,000 charities."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/civillibertiesnewsarticles" target="_blank">civil liberties news articles</a> from reliable major media sources.</p>Victims can't make a federal case out of police who stole their moneySan Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco's leading newspaper)2019-03-20https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Court-Victims-can-t-make-a-federal-case-out-of-13704610.php
The Strange Tale of the FBI’s Fictional “Black Identity Extremism” MovementThe Intercept2019-03-23https://theintercept.com/2019/03/23/black-identity-extremist-fbi-domestic-terrorism/
Leaked Documents Show the Government Tracking JournalistsNBC (Los Angeles affiliate)2019-03-16https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/Source-Leaked-Documents-Show-the-US-Government-Tracking-Journalists-and-Advocates-Through-a-Secret-Database-506783231.html
Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group SaysNew York Times2019-02-20https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/us/hate-groups-rise.html
What decades of traffic stop data reveals about police biasCBS News2019-03-02https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-decades-of-traffic-stop-data-reveals-about-police-bias/
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0">Philando Castile, Walter Scott and Sandra Bland were all pulled over by police in routine traffic stops. All are dead. In an effort to curb racial profiling, North Carolina became the first state to demand the collection and release of traffic stop data. University of North Carolina professor Frank Baumgartner took a look at that data and wrote a book on the subject titled, "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Suspect-Citizens-Million-Traffic-Policing/dp/1108454046/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Suspect+Citizens&qid=1552161719&s=gateway&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Suspect Citizens</a>." Baumgartner analyzed 22 million traffic stops over 20 years ... and found that a driver's race, gender, location and age all factor in to a police officer's decision to pull over a vehicle. <strong>The data showed that African Americans had been stopped twice as often as white drivers, and while they were four times more likely to be searched, they were actually less likely to be issued a ticket</strong>. The study also highlighted that whites were more likely to be found with contraband than blacks or Hispanics. "There's a way that police interact with middle-class white Americans and there's a way that people in the police forces interact with members of minority communities, especially in poorer neighborhoods," Baumgartner said. Police discretion is a power that's been backed by the U.S. Supreme Court for decades. Baumgartner believes that's largely because the court looks like him, a white man. Philando Castile was stopped 46 times according to police records, racking up a total of $6,000 in fines. "When we look at some of these infractions, they're trivial. It's not keeping us any safer," Baumgartner said. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/police-corruptionnewsarticles" target="_blank">police corruption</a> and the <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/civillibertiesnewsarticles" target="_blank">erosion of civil liberties</a>. </p>Only six countries have equal rights for men and women, World Bank findsCNN News2019-03-02https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/02/europe/world-bank-gender-equality-report-intl/index.html
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>The world is moving towards legal gender equality - but it's moving very, very slowly. Only six countries currently give women and men equal rights, a major report from the World Bank has found. That's an increase - from zero - compared to a decade ago</strong>, when the organization started measuring countries by how effectively they guarantee legal and economic equality between the genders. But the rate of progress means that, by CNN calculations, women won't achieve full equality in the areas studied by the World Bank until 2073. Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden scored full marks of 100 in the bank's "Women, Business and the Law 2019" <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/31327/WBL2019.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>. Of those nations, France saw the biggest improvement over the past decade for implementing a domestic violence law, providing criminal penalties for workplace sexual harassment and introducing paid parental leave. But countries in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa averaged a score of 47.37, meaning the typical nation in those regions gives women under half the legal rights of men in the areas measured by the group. The study ... did not measure social and cultural factors, or how effectively laws were enforced. The criteria analyzed were: going places, starting a job, getting paid, getting married, having children, running a business, managing assets and getting a pension. Overall, the global average came in at 74.71. The score indicates that in the average nation, women receive just three-quarters of the legal rights that men do.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/civillibertiesnewsarticles" target="_blank">civil liberties news articles</a> from reliable major media sources. </p>A high school government class wanted to help solve civil rights crimes. So they drafted a bill that is now lawCNN News2019-02-26https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/26/us/new-jersey-students-civil-rights-bill-trnd/index.html
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>A high school class in Hightstown, New Jersey, has found an impressive way to shed light on unsolved civil rights crimes from the 1950s and '60s. The AP class, studying US government, drafted a bill that would create a board to review, declassify, and release documents related to such cases</strong>. The students ... went to Washington, walked the halls of Senate office buildings and passed out folders with policy research and information about <a href="https://coldcaseact.com/" target="_blank">their bill</a>, said former student Joshua Fayer. Their efforts caught the attention of Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois, who introduced the bill - modeled after the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/politics/jfk-assassination-records-deadline-2021/index.html" target="_blank">JFK Assassination Records Act</a> - in March 2017. Later Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas signed on. The House and Senate versions ... passed late last year, and President Trump signed the bill into law on January 8. Former student Jay Vainganker said the class was initially trying to solve unresolved hate crimes from the [civil rights] era. They filed public records requests for information from the FBI and Department of Justice, and they got back redacted responses from the government. In some cases, entire pages were redacted. That's when their focus changed, Vaingankar said. They decided to draft a bill that would make the government "a little bit more transparent." The <a href="https://www.jones.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-jones-cruz-announce-civil-rights-cold-case-records-collection-act-is-signed-into-law" target="_blank">Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act</a> creates "a board that would be authorized to look at these documents and see what should be redacted, what isn't relevant, what should be released," he said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;margin: 0 0 11pt 0"><strong>Note:</strong> Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly <a href="https://www.wanttoknow.info/inspirationalnewsarticles" target="_blank">inspiring news articles</a> which will inspire you to make a difference.</p>Texts show collusion between police and far-right extremistsNBC/Associated Press2019-02-15https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oregon-official-texts-show-collusion-between-police-far-right-extremists-n971926
FBI investigated civil rights group as 'terrorism' threat and viewed KKK as victimsThe Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)2019-02-01https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/01/sacramento-rally-fbi-kkk-domestic-terrorism-california
Time to Break the Silence on PalestineNew York Times2019-01-19https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/opinion/sunday/martin-luther-king-palestine-israel.html